But the median selling price compared to one year earlier was up for the seventh month in a row, leading NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun to say "we're experiencing a genuine recovery."

According to NAR:

"The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $183,900 in September, up 11.3 percent from a year ago. The last time there were seven consecutive monthly year-over-year increases was from November 2005 to May 2006."

One reason for the dip in sales: "The nation's inventory of homes — those for sale on the market — fell 3.3 percent during the month to 2.32 million," Reuters notes. So would-be buyers had fewer homes to choose from, which could mean that some just haven't yet found the ones they want.